Syracuse's Carousel Center mall picks up some additional parking spaces -- just in time for the holidays

Lauren Long / The Post-StandardJust in time for the upcoming holiday shopping season, Carousel Center mall has picked up some extra parking spaces that were temporarily lost due to construction of the expansion.

You might not be thinking of the holiday shopping season yet, but others are.

Take Carousel Center mall. They’re already getting ready for the season, with some cleanup work and the opening of more than 500 more parking spaces that haven’t been around for awhile.

Rob Schoeneck, the mall’s general manager, said a bunch of parking has been returned to the area near Lord & Taylor that had been confiscated for construction work on that side of the addition to the mall.

Also, spots have opened up in front of the addition on the J.C. Penney side.

An additional ring road lane will be picked up on the Hiawatha Boulevard side. Crews late last week were moving back some fencing in front of the addition. The fencing had claimed a lane. They were clearing and cleaning the lane.

Paving will be done soon atop the ring road, as well.

Also, the satellite lots on Solar Street are opening for the season.

And hey, while we’re on the subject, looks as though Old Navyis strongly considering a Thanksgiving Day opening at Carousel Center mall, joining the movie theaters that day. That’s a first for ON.

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Sbarro’s brief shutdown at Carousel for a remodel was more than just for the inside of the food booth, a look first rolled out at Walden Galleria near Buffalo. The mall is also starting to unveil individual looks for the facades of all of the food court tenants, as leases are renewed. Check out the brick columns and exposed steel on the front of Sbarro for its new façade.

One more: Toolmeister Black & Deckeris opening a seasonal store at Carousel, in the former Hooters restaurant in the food court. Don’t worry about construction. They’re bringing their own gear.

Fayetteville’s Edward Thomas Cigar, at 104 Limestone Plaza, is moving to 210 Brooklea Dr. in Fayetteville. The new location will house a public smoking lounge, a walk-in humidor and something new: a member’s-only club, with a private entrance. There will also be quiet rooms, a business center, a game room and cigar lockers. A grand opening is expected in early November.